Rutgers training camp: QB Hayden Rettig feels at home after transfer from LSU

"There's not a better place for me to be. (Coach Flood) is committed to what's happening here and I want to be a part of it." -- QB Hayden Rettig

PISCATAWAY — During Rutgers' first practice of training camp, a
student manager was throwing passes to running backs as they ran short patterns.

The young assistant was struggling to consistently put the
ball on the mark, so running backs coach Norries Wilson summoned quarterback Hayden
Rettig, who transferred from LSU in June. Rettig came over and began firing passes to the backs.

Initially, Wilson was pleased to get the running backs a
legitimate quarterback to deliver passes during the drill. But after Rettig
rocketed a few of the short passes off of the backs' hands, Wilson had to tell
the quarterback to take something off his throws.

Rettig's rifle arm turned heads during the first week of
training camp.

"He definitely has the arm talent," wide receiver Leonte
Carroo said.

That arm talent figures to put Rettig in the thick of a quarterback competition in 2015. But his contributions this season will be confined to the scout team as he sits out due to an NCAA transfer rules. It will be his
second consecutive season on the sidelines after redshirting at LSU last year.

"It's going to be tough, but any way I can help and do
anything I can to try to make anyone else better, that's definitely what I'm going
to do," said Rettig, who has three years of eligibility remaining. "I'll be working on scout team this year helping the
defense out so that will definitely be a big thing for me."

THE ROAD TO RUTGERS

Rettig has the potential and the pedigree to emerge as the
biggest score in a 2014 class that underwhelmed recruiting analysts.

A four-star recruit out of Cathedral High in Los Angeles,
Rettig was recruited by programs across the country, including Rutgers. Ranked the No. 5 pro-style quarterback in the class of 2013 by Rivals.com,
Rettig chose to attend LSU.

Rettig enrolled early at LSU, arriving in Baton Rouge in the
spring of 2013.

"It was a good experience," Rettig said. "I learned a lot.
It's always good going to a program and learning so much. When I first got
there, I had no idea how to take a snap under center. I was just strictly a
shotgun guy out of high school and we threw the ball like 50 times a game. So
coming into a place like that, understanding where you actually have to
minimize mistakes and take what the game gives you every down, it was more that
type of thing."

But overall, Rettig's experience at LSU was not what he
expected. Shortly after he arrived, offensive coordinator Greg Studrawa
was demoted to offensive line coach and Cam Cameron took over as the
play-caller. Cameron's offense calls for a mobile quarterback, which doesn't
mesh with the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Rettig's skill set.

"The system wasn't a fit," Rettig said. "The guy who
recruited me there got fired from his position and it just wasn't feeling like
home. It just changed in such a dramatic way where it just wasn't where I needed
to be at the time. I needed to find myself and figure out what I wanted to do."

That search led him to Rutgers, despite interest from other
schools, including TCU and UCLA.

"There was schools coming off left and right, but it was
pretty much Rutgers all the way," Rettig said. "I didn't visit anywhere else.
Coach (Kyle) Flood called and I was like, 'All right, let's talk.' "

When the two spoke, Rettig felt an immediate connection.
When asked why he chose Rutgers, Rettig pointed to the head coach
without hesitation.

"Coach Flood, definitely," Rettig said. "Coach Flood was
definitely a big thing that helped me out when I was going through the whole
process. Me and him talked a lot over the two-week span and I was like,
'There's not a better place for me to be.' He's committed to what's happening
here and I want to be a part of it."

'THIS IS WHERE I NEED TO BE'

Rettig received a scholarship offer early in his high school
career from Rutgers, and recalls then-offensive coordinator Dave Brock visiting
his school. Before coming to Rutgers, Brock spent two seasons as the tight ends
coach at Boston College, where Rettig's older brother, Chase, was a four-year
starter from 2010-13.

The Rettig-Brock connection eventually worked out in
Rutgers' favor when Hayden was looking to transfer.

"Chase came down here one time just to be here because Coach
Brock was here, just to hang out and see him," Rettig said. "He said it was
definitely a great place – great facilities – and he told me I needed to check
it out. I came up for a visit with my father and just loved it. I fell in love
with the place."

Rettig's recruiting experience was different the second time
around. While things didn't turn out the way he had hoped at LSU, he's
confident that Rutgers is the right place to spend his career.

"I understand what coaches can do and what coaches can say,
but at the same time, I was always realistic," Rettig said of the recruiting
process. "I always knew what was happening throughout my recruitment here. I
loved it so I was like, this is a good spot for me and this is where I need to
be."